Friday, February 26, 2010

MAD HAT TUTORIAL

I had a question about how I made the hat. It was a pretty simple one to make so I thought I would show the basic procedure I use to make the majority of shaped cards I have done.

Step #1. Search the web for whatever shape I am interested in. Go to google and choose images from the top left side.In this case I wanted a mad hatter shaped hat so (duh) I typed in "mad hatter hat" and got all kinds of fun pics.

I copied and pasted the photo into a word document. I haven't figured out how to go directly to photoshop for some reason so I just save it as a word document and then open it in photoshop.

Step#2 Make it the size you want in photoshop or whatever photo editing program you like. You can even do this while still in word but I prefer photoshop because it is easier for me to get it precisely the size I want.

In this case I elongated the hat picture so that it was a bit taller and then made it about 5X5.5 inches in size.

Step #3 Print off several copies

Step #4 Cut the copies into template pieces.

This is my first copy which I am using for the template of the top of the hat.Cut on the dotted lines.

I wanted the hat to have a more curved appearance to the sides so I flipped the template over and used my curved ruler to indent the sides.

This is my second copy which I am using to make the brim template.

I now have pattern pieces to trace around on my cardstock. Since I was using black CS I used my white gel pen to trace the pieces.I felt it looked a little flat to I attached the black CS to some silver CS and trimmed closely around the edges just to give it a little dimension. I did this on the brim also. A piece of wide ribbon was wrapped around the base.

I also put a thin piece of ribbon along the top edge of the brim. Pop dots were used to prop up the brim so that the card would fit neatly inside.

I hope this was helpful and I am happy clarify any questions you may have just send me an email parosc@gmail.com.

About Me

I am a mom to two great kids and wife to a very tolerant husband. When I am not at my job as a research biologist (which I LOVE) or running the kids around to their numerous activities, I can be found immersed in some type of crafty endeavor.
parosc@gmail.com